Wes Ellis./ a personal notebook
Technology. Stories. Side projects.
A few things worth writing down.
SearchSubscribe
← Back to Short-Order Kitchen

Short-Order Kitchen

Carrot Cake Mug Muffin

By Wes Ellis2 min read
Rows of carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and little piped carrots.
Recipe card
Servings
1
Prep
5 to 7 minutes
Cook
90 seconds
Method
Microwave
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 4 of the thread Microwave muffins and mug cakes

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • Grated carrot and pie spice in a mug, 60 to 90 seconds.
  • The frosting is 1 tablespoon each of cream cheese, sweetener and milk.
  • Warm the frosting 15 seconds, then stir it smooth.
  • Frost it while the muffin is just barely warm.
THE RECIPE · CARROT CAKE MUG MUFFIN

Ingredients

Muffin

Frosting

You'll need

  • Microwave-safe mug or bowl
  • Small microwave-safe bowl
  • Box grater
  • Fork or small whisk

Directions

Muffin

  1. Grease the mug. Stir in the protein powder, milk, pancake mix, carrot and spice until smooth, then fold in the nuts if you're using them.
  2. Microwave on high for 60 to 90 seconds, until the center is set. Let it cool in the mug.

Frosting

  1. Put the cream cheese, sweetener and milk in a small bowl and microwave for about 15 seconds, just until soft.
  2. Stir until smooth. Add a drop more milk if it's too stiff to spread.
  3. Spread it over the muffin and eat.
Notes Best the day you make it because of the frosting; it'll keep 1 to 2 days in the fridge, eaten cold or at room temperature. Roughly 285 calories and 40 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/carrot-cake-muffin/

Carrot cake is really an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting, and this mug version leans all the way into that. The muffin brings the spice and a little bit of carrot. The frosting brings the reason you made it.

Grate it fine

One tablespoon of carrot isn't much, so it needs to disappear into the batter rather than sit in stringy clumps. Use the small holes on the grater. Fine shreds soften in 90 seconds; the thick ones stay crunchy and a bit raw-tasting.

The nuts are optional but they're doing real work. A teaspoon of chopped walnuts or pecans gives the soft crumb something to bite into.

Fifteen-second frosting

Cold cream cheese won't stir smooth with a tablespoon of anything. Fifteen seconds in the microwave loosens it just enough. Any longer and it goes thin and runny, and it won't set back up on a warm muffin.

Tip

Let the muffin cool until it's just barely warm before frosting. Hot cake melts the frosting straight into the crumb.

The same frosting shows up on the Raspberry Lemon Mug Loaf. If spiced is your thing, the Apple Pie Mug Muffin is the next one to try.

Try this

Powdered sweetener dissolves; granulated stays gritty. If granulated is all you have, give the frosting a longer stir and a minute to sit.

LINKED FROM3 notes

Keep reading